The Compromise of 1850

Tucked inside the big, complex, War-delaying Compromise of 1850 was a line that turned California into a state. And what a state! For starters, your editor was born there. For seconders, it’s got an economy comparable to Italy. And for thirdsers: Don Henley, redwoods, Ursus americanus, Mount Whitney, the Golden Gate Bridge, that time Alan Rickman blew up Nakatomi Plaza, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Randy’s Donuts, Richard Nixon, palm trees, every server rack for every social media site, the rewired Skynet 800, vomiting celebrities, and the greatest Americans of all: crazy prospectors! That “ribbon of highway” and “endless skyway,” indeed.

A Note on Sources

The American Scraps Executive Reference Library

Every American Scraps comic strip cites, links-to, and—where possible—displays a preview of its source artifact. These artifacts are all from public-domain, royalty-free sources, and are appropriate for use in the classroom. Most American Scraps sources come from The National Archives And Records Administration (NARA), whose “Today’s Document” feature was the original inspiration, in 2010, for this whole enterprise. (On a personal note, I’m grateful to NARA for the invaluable work they have done, and continue to do.)

For ease of use in the classroom—specifically grades 5–12—American Scraps organizes its material according to UCLA’s National Standards for History Basic Edition (1996), as you can see in those ten “Historical Eras” above. Learn more about the National Center for History in the Schools here.

If you’re a teacher and are using American Scraps in the classroom, I’d love to hear from you! Drop me a line at jon@americanscraps.com.

A Note on Theft

The original art you see here on American Scraps is copyrighted, and reproduction of it is prohibited without written approval.

In other words, unless I’ve told you otherwise: Don’t save or screenshot these comics for use in your own post, tweet, slideshow, or embed. Don’t “remix” or “aggregate” them. Don’t reproduce them, even in an appreciative way. Don’t sell them. Don’t drop them into a listicle called “15 Comic GIFs That Tell The Story Of American History (And You Won’t Believe #8!)”.

Instead, contact me at jon@americanscraps.com and let’s talk about your idea.

American Scraps